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Tomorrow's T-Mobile 'Uncarrier' Event to Include iPhone Announcement

staypuffinpc

staypuffinpc

macrumors member
Jun 4, 2008
49
2
contract fleecing

Lancer said:
I'm not in the US and would never buy an iPhone outright. Much better to get a contract but make sure the plan and carrier are good.
Click to expand...

Which is exactly why the whole "subsidized" phone business works so well. Too many people would rather get fleeced. Note that t-Mobile is not asking people to buy the phone outright, but rather, they'll let you pay it over 24 months, but when those 24 months are up, you've actually payed off the phone and don't have to keep paying for it. In the "subsidized" plans, the provider divides the cost of the phones across 20 months and charge you that price for the duration of your contract, which is usually 24 months, meaning that they are making sure to charge you more than the price of the phone, even if you buy a new phone after your contract is up.
 
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pika2000

Suspended
Jun 22, 2007
5,587
4,902
Although I'm glad that T-Mobile does this, $50 a month is still quite pricey for me. T-Mobile itself has a better un-advertised plan that not many people know, $30 a month for 100 minutes, unlimited text, 5GB data, no contract. Need more minutes? Just 10c per minute extra.

Need unlimited minutes? There are plenty of MVNOs to choose from. Simple Mobile offers unlimited minutes, unlimited text, 2GB data, for $50 a month. Oh, and they offer unlimited international text too. If you don't need that much data, $40 for 250MB.

Want AT&T coverage? $40 a month on Airvoice gives you unlimited voice, unlimited text, and 500MB data. No contract.

The true "un-carriers" are the MVNOs. I'm amazed people are still willing to pay the upwards of hundreds of dollars for a cellphone service, especially AT&T. Heck, even if you are on AT&T, their goPhone prepaid plan can be better deal than their post paid. For $50, you get 250 minutes, unlimited text, and 1GB data ($25 plan + $25 1GB data pack).

The only thing missing from these examples is official support for tethering/portable hotspot.
 
2

2298754

Cancelled
Jun 21, 2010
4,890
941
alent1234 said:
i checked out T-Mo's coverage map and they are still EDGE in half of NYC. Manhattan is not the only part of NYC.
Click to expand...

Yup, its all a bunch of crap. They need to deal with getting rid of EDGE outside of major cities. Not deploying LTE
 
TyPod

TyPod

macrumors 68000
Nov 2, 2006
1,745
18
Minneapolis, MN
This is good news for where T-Mobile is popular! Personally I don't know one person that has T-Mobile as their service provider.
 
Vip

Vip

macrumors regular
May 8, 2008
180
0
CEmajr said:
They don't have to. At least not upfront. The Galaxy S3 for instance is only $69 upfront to get out the door and then $20 for 20 months. Even when combined with the $20 for the phone your rate plan on Tmobile still comes out cheaper than the other 3 carriers and once the device is paid off your bill drops. Whereas people on the other carriers continue paying the same high rate plans even if they do not upgrade to a new device after two years.

Tmobile could potentially change the game and have success with this method if they can probably educate and market it to consumers.
Click to expand...

Doubt they will be able to educate the Bubba's that prefer to live on the never never :rolleyes:
 
V

vladi

macrumors 6502a
Jan 30, 2010
960
573
sulpfiction said:
I'm baffled that u would insult Americans, and be 100% wrong at the same time. My phone bill on AT&T is exactly the same whether I buy a subsidized phone or a phone at full price.
Click to expand...

Please read this again and then again and let us know what is your conclusion.
 
einmusiker

einmusiker

macrumors 68040
Apr 26, 2010
3,001
355
Location: Location: Location:
tmo cverage in my area is still crap, thank god I still have unlimited LTE and voice and text on verizon for only $70/mo after taxes. Hopefully the popularity of this plan will help Tmo improve their coverage area
 
V

vladi

macrumors 6502a
Jan 30, 2010
960
573
tdtran1025 said:
Currently, TMobile non-contract plans have no middle sweet spot to make it competitive, due in part to the limited network footprint in the past. The $50 unlimited everything is perhaps the most enticing plan in the eyes of consumers, but that is 3G. If they can keep the same pricing for going forward to LTE, they may have a shot.
Customers who have the money to buy own phones always fare better in the end.
Click to expand...

Their 3G is HSPA+ that is as fast as LTE with proper infrastructure. Some carriers even reach the max output of 168mps/22mbps. Do not fall for the labels 3G, 4G, Dual core, Quad core, but actually see if it works for you. Do you know that you can VOIP over EDGE as well? So far very few people need HSPA+/LTE speeds cause there is no much to do with all that bandwith but your battery suffers greatly from 24/7 connectivity.

----------
sulpfiction said:
Read it 3 times.
Click to expand...

Great. So now you are aware that you have paid off your iPhone two times in your 2 year agreement. And if you take the exact same plan without getting the phone you are paying of somebody else's phone. In other words ATT sells you 2 iPhones but its your choice if you want to take only one or none.
 
A

aneftp

macrumors 601
Jul 28, 2007
4,362
546
EbookReader said:
How much would something like this cost on AT&T, Verizon and Sprint? (it's $130 a month on T-Mobile).



line 1: unlimited talk, unlimited text, unlimited data
line 2: unlimited talk, unlimited text, 2GB of data
line 3: unlimited talk, unlimited text, 500MB of data
line 4: unlimited talk, unlimited text, 500MB of data

$80 (first 2 lines) + $10 (3rd line) + $10 (4th line) + $20 (unlimited data for line 1) + $10 (2GB for line 2) = $130

$130 / 4 = $32.5
Click to expand...

The math is complicated once you factor into subsidies for post paid carriers like ATT/Verizon/Sprint.

Each line is worth $400 per line on ATT/Verizon/Sprint in term of subsidies. So the more lines, the bigger the overall subsides. Also factor in discounts ranging from 10%-28% on these carriers. I currently get a 24% discount.

Here's my math:
700 minute plan plus rollover plus A-list plus "any mobile". Essentially unlimited minutes

$60 for first line, $10 for each line.

So 4 lines=$90 for 4 lines
Data 2 X $30 unlimited data=$60 (2 smartphone)
Data 2X $20 (300MB)=40
Family unlimited texting=$20 for my plan (it's usually $30 but you can always ask for $20 from ATT).

So $90 plus $60 plus $40 plus $20 equals $210

So on paper T-mobile's $130 example you cited is much cheaper than ATT $210 plan.

But not so fast

Let's factor in the $400 subsidy per line (that's a total of $1600 over a 20 month period because that's when you are eligible for another round of subsides).

So do the math (T-mobile zero subsdiy).
$130/month (4 lines) x 20 months equals $2600


ATT 4 lines ($210 X 20 months) $4200.

So T-mobile comes out $1600 cheaper over a 20 month period than ATT.

But ATT gives you $400 X 4 lines worth of subsidies for the iPhone.

So it's a complete wash in terms of savings between T-mobile and ATT after 20 months.

As you can see, I can add line 5 and ATT will come out cheaper over a $20 month period.

Factor in my 24% discount (T-mobile will charge you taxes on those lines as well). Factor 24% discount. ATT comes out way ahead with me with 4 lines and much much more with 5 lines.
 
oneMadRssn

oneMadRssn

macrumors 603
Sep 8, 2011
5,977
13,990
oneMadRssn said:
I would be all over this if either their coverage was any good, or they had a roaming agreement with another carrier to make up for the spotty coverage.
Click to expand...

powers74 said:
Don't you mean there coverage
Click to expand...

No, I don't. I mean their.

their.png
 
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neuropsychguy

macrumors 68020
Sep 29, 2008
2,379
5,652
alent1234 said:
$100 for 4 lines is pre tax
if its like AT&T figure $8 to $10 per month per line for taxes
then $20 per month per line for phone subsidy

that's almost $220 per month right there

compared to $266 i pay AT&T for a 4 line family plan with 10GB of data for everyone

no savings
Click to expand...

Yes, but there is tax on AT&T and Verizon just like T-Mobile, which is why I didn't include it (actually tax is higher than with T-Mobile because the base upon which tax is calculated is higher than with T-Mobile).

The point of my post was to show that for some people it makes sense to go with T-Mobile and others it doesn't make sense. But generally, it's cheaper to go with T-Mobile (especially if there is no corporate discount).
 
Lancer

Lancer

macrumors 68020
Jul 22, 2002
2,217
147
Australia
staypuffinpc said:
Which is exactly why the whole "subsidized" phone business works so well. Too many people would rather get fleeced. Note that t-Mobile is not asking people to buy the phone outright, but rather, they'll let you pay it over 24 months, but when those 24 months are up, you've actually payed off the phone and don't have to keep paying for it. In the "subsidized" plans, the provider divides the cost of the phones across 20 months and charge you that price for the duration of your contract, which is usually 24 months, meaning that they are making sure to charge you more than the price of the phone, even if you buy a new phone after your contract is up.
Click to expand...

That's why I said I'd do the maths first, to see exactly how much I'd pay over 2 years, including my normal phone charges. In most cases it's about the same as buying the phone outright but you have 24 months to pay for it.

At least that's how it works here in Australia. You know up front how much the handset is going to cost per month.
 
C

cfs

macrumors 6502a
Feb 8, 2008
626
16
neuropsychguy said:
Yes, but there is tax on AT&T and Verizon just like T-Mobile, which is why I didn't include it (actually tax is higher than with T-Mobile because the base upon which tax is calculated is higher than with T-Mobile).

The point of my post was to show that for some people it makes sense to go with T-Mobile and others it doesn't make sense. But generally, it's cheaper to go with T-Mobile (especially if there is no corporate discount).
Click to expand...

Do we know what T-mobile taxes and fees will be? I have been looking for this. Curious if they will be low such as their prepaid plans and Virgin Mobile plans. For example, on T-Mobiles $30 plan one just pays state tax on the $30 with no fees and this is similar on Virgin Mobile.
 
O

occollegeboi420

macrumors regular
Mar 2, 2013
180
0
You people REALLY don't know what you're talking about...

Being an AVID t-mobile subscriber since I had my 2g iPhone, jailbroken and unlocked on 3.1.3 with redsn0w, and now own an iPhone 4 factory unlocked via at&t and purchased from ebay, I can tell you these things:

1. Tmobile DOES have free roaming. They tell you to turn the switch to ON in the cellular data settings.
2. Tmobile has 3g on the iphone now, but you need to be on 6.xx ios. I get excellent 3g in dallas and pretty fast. Maps loads up fast.
3. Yah, tmobile does have a couple spots where I don't get that great of service, but hey, all you gotta do is just walk a few meters or so and you'll get better service again. The only places I don't get good 3g are in my house (I use wifi anyway so it doesn't matter) and at my work (I don't really need to be on the internet at work anyway, so no big deal.)
4. Number 3 doesn't even matter with tmobile's super CHEAP prices for service. You can do your own research to find out tmobiles plans at this current moment for unlocked iphones. I'm paying prepaid, $60 for unlimited everything, and my data getting capped at 5gb.
5. Tmobile has seen all the mistakes that all the other carriers have maid. Tmobile has learned how to do it the right way.
6. It's about damn time tmobile gets the iPhone now. Sheesh...take forever.
 
J

jtp098

macrumors 6502a
Apr 19, 2010
733
1
Purchase
MrNomNoms said:
Here is the problem, in the case of New Zealand we have Telecom offering NZ$0 down phones on plans that no one in their right mind would ever fully use each month. For example, a 32GB iPhone 5 for NZ$0 down will set you back NZ$159 per month (over 24 months) which gives you 600 texts, 1000minutes of talk and 3GB of data (the data can be used how ever you want) - how many people will ever use 1000 minutes let alone 3GB of data on their phone? I mean, I'm on a NZ$29.95 open contract with 500MB of data per month along with 150minutes of chatting and unlimited texts - and even by the end of the month I haven't even used that - so why do people think that they're getting a 'super deal' by paying NZ$0 for a plan they'll never fully utilise at NZ$159 per month? based on my number crunching I can pay off my 64GB iPhone 5 plus pay NZ$29.95 each month and still come off better than going for the NZ$0 option. People really confuse me some times.
Click to expand...

I guess it would depend on usage. Across my three lines we go through 1,500 minutes a month easy and each user is at the data limit each month and texts are around 6,000+ as a group total.

For me which ever gets me the phone cheapest but in the least time is better for me so if I can get the for for 579 great!
 
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